Five of the opening six bouts ended in stoppages, and newcomers Matt Veach and Nick Catone delivered two of the evening’s most impressive performances.

Veach battled back from what appeared to be certain disaster, while Catone dominated the entirety of his long-awaited UFC debut, all to the delight of the USF Sun Dome crowd.

In the preliminary card’s feature bout, Kurt Pellegrino (13-4 MMA, 5-3 UFC) opened on the defensive against “The Ultimate Fighter 5″ veteran Rob Emerson (8-7 MMA, 2-1 UFC). Peppered with jabs and unable to score with a takedown, Pellegrino ended the first round on his back.

The second round started much as the first, and Emerson looked to be in control. Pellegrino was able to turn the tide with a failed single-leg attempt that he transitioned into an offensive slam. Working from inside Emerson’s guard, Pellegrino used a few short elbows to distract his opponent while moving to mount. Emerson rolled underneath, and Pellegrino calmly locked in the fight-ending choke at 3:14 of the second round.

The loss was Emerson’s first in his past six official contests, while Pellegrino has now won two-straight bouts and three of his past four.

Rosholt looked to flash his wrestling prowess early, but ate a knee when he looked to shoot. Miller followed briefly to the ground, and as the two scrambled to return to their feet Miller slipped in a guillotine choke. Rosholt had no choice but to tap, and the end came just 63 seconds after the fight began.

After the bout, Miller said the ends came just as he had envisioned.

“I knew he was going to be shooting on me,” Miller said. “He’s such a tough, strong guy. I envisioned that guillotine in my head before the fight.”

The loss was Rosholt’s first after five-straight stoppage wins, while Miller has now won nine-straight official bouts, including three for the UFC.

In an early candidate for “Fight of the Night,” H.I.T. Squad lightweight and late replacement Veach (11-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) came back from certain defeat in order to earn a hotly protested TKO over opponent Matt Grice (9-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC).
In a back-and-forth battle, Veach earned a quick takedown and delivered a steady stream of blows from inside his opponent’s guard. Grice avoided any heavy damage and scrambled back to his feet. An uppercut in the clinch wobbled Veach, and Grice quickly pounced.

Grice brought an aggressive ground-and-pound attack, and the crowd roared as the impending finish appeared inevitable. But Veach hung on through the blows and fended off a guillotine choke that also could have ended his evening.

Once out of the hold, the pair returned to their feet and Veach seized the opportunity. Standing toe-to-toe and swinging wildly, Veach scored with an uppercut that buckled Grice’s legs. As Grice fell to the floor, Veach followed with a series of punches that prompted a stoppage with just 26 seconds remaining.

Grice disagreed with the stoppage and refused to congratulate his opponent while protesting the decision.

Following the bout, Veach admitted he was in trouble early.

“He hit me pretty hard,” Veach said. “I was dazed.”

As for the stoppage, Veach said said it wasn’t his place to question the call.

“I’m not one to judge,” Veach said. “I just try to fight.”

Lightweights Gleison Tibau (16-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC) and Rich Clementi (32-14-1 MMA, 5-5 UFC) each told MMAjunkie.com before tonight that they wanted to put on a high-paced, scrambling bout that would please the Tampa fans. For most of the first round, that’s exactly what they did.

After suffering two-straight defeats in the UFC, Tibau came out with a renewed sense of vigor that put Clementi immediately on the defensive. Clementi fended Tibau off after giving up his back early in the round, but the persistence of the Brazilian kept “No Love” reeling from multiple submission setups.

The action slowed briefly, and the two fighters scrambled in response to the crowd’s audible displeasure. As Clementi looked to grab a single-leg takedown, Tibau locked in a guillotine choke. Clementi tried to resist the deep choke, but was forced to tap at 4:36 of the opening round.

Debuting UFC middleweights Catone (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Derek Downey (10-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) were both looking to make an impact in their first trips to the octagon. When the action began it was Catone who unleashed the frustration of two canceled bouts with Amir Sadollah.

Catone brought Downey to the floor early in the first round. Though Downey scrambled back to his feet, Catone brought him right back to the floor. Downey survived the first frame, but the onslaught began again in the second.

Catone put Downey right back on the mat to open the frame. Catone secured a keylock on his opponent during a scramble, and a quick torque caused a tap at 1:15. After Catone released the hold, Downey arose in obvious agony.

“I was trying to improve my position, and [Downey] just left his arm there,” Catone said following the bout. “I was able to take him down, improve my position and get the submission.

“[The UFC] is definitely a step up, and I feel like I belong here.”

Catone wins the sixth-straight bout of his budding career, while Downey suffers his first defeat in his past four bouts.

Working from the top position for the majority of their 15-minute bout, Riddle punished Bruno with a seemingly unending series of punches and elbows. The third period was especially brutal, and Riddle’s offense appeared frequently on the verge of causing a stoppage. Bruno rolled and lasted until the final bell.

The result was never in question, and the action was far more one-sided than the unanimous decision scores (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) indicated.

Following the bout, Riddle was impressed with his opponent’s durability.

“[Bruno] was a little tougher than I through he’d be,” Riddle said. “I was cracking him with punches. They were landing flush, but he was OK.”

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